


Becoming friends

by WitchWannabe



Series: Teen Gang Au [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Dib and Gaz are Siblings (Invader Zim), Dork Dib (Invader Zim), I’m bad at writing, M/M, PM is a good dad, They become friends, ZADF, Zim is Defective (Invader Zim), Zim is sad, Zim wears skirts and dresses, gir is very sweet, i like wholesome stuff, or at least he’s trying, pretty family friendly, slightly aged up characters, the tallest are jerks, will evolve to zadr, zim cries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23522725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchWannabe/pseuds/WitchWannabe
Summary: The tallest tell Zim his mission was fake, so he has a breakdown. He and Dib become friends. The thing is neither of them know how to be friends. Zim is kinda depressed, but Dib’s there to help him out.This is the prologue to my Teen Gang Au: https://zadr-obsessed.tumblr.com/post/190530699879/i-have-like-an-au-idea-where-after-zim-and-dib
Relationships: Dib/Zim
Series: Teen Gang Au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692685
Comments: 8
Kudos: 75





	1. I want you

Zim stood in front of his TV. Everything was dark. The only light came from the mild glow of his pak. His big berry eyes, were wide open. A small tear started to form. It dripped down, followed by a dozen more. They didn’t stopped pouring. A hundred of thoughts ran through Zim’s mind. His latest call with the Tallest. His last call with the Tallest. Was tough... to say the least. His leaders dumped a ton of information onto him. They said he was defective. That he was never a real invader. That the only reason he was sent on his mission, was to get rid of him. He didn’t want to believe it. He had always known deep, deep inside of him that he was never liked by his peers. But hearing it directly, from the Tallest, it was definitely something else.

He was now on his knees, still crying. A faint couple of metallic footsteps started approaching him. “Master?” Zim broke out of his thoughts to look at his robot helper. The small robot looked up at him with a worried look, and jumped to give a kind hug to the alien. A couple seconds passed, but Zim slowly gave into the hug. And what used to be silent tears turned into loud sobbing.

It had been three days since Zim last went to school. A young teen sat at his desk staring at the empty seat across the room. Dib Membrane, now a 13 year old, wonder what kind of plan his alien enemy was preparing. When suddenly there he was at the door. The alien quietly sat down at his usual place as if he hadn’t been gone for days. Dib almost ran up to confront him, but something felt different. 

Zim wasn’t his usual self. He wasn’t wearing his invader uniform. He had black leggings and a navy blue hoodie that seemed to be a little too big for him. And looking at it, the hoodie looked exactly like the one Dib had lost a couple weeks ago. Well at least he knew where that went. But a new outfit wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Zim wasn’t his usual self. Normally he would storm in the classroom announcing his arrival to the whole class. But he didn’t. He entered so quickly and quietly, that Dib took a few moments to notice him. And now he was just sitting there looking down at his desk. Not really doing anything. The bell rang and the teacher started the class, so Dib decided to wait until lunch.

The cafeteria was full of kids talking everywhere. Dib was standing at the door looking for Zim. The green boi, sat alone at a table barely touching his beans. That wasn’t new. Dib quickly walked up to Zim and smashed his tray into the table. “Where have you been Zim? What are you planning?!” The alien looked up to see the pubescent boy, he sighed. “I was in my base, Dib-thing, but I wasn’t planning anything”. Dib was surprised. No sassy comeback, no self praise, no threat to his well-being? What was up with Zim? The boy sat down next to the alien, who was a bit dumbfounded but didn’t say anything. “Ok! What’s up with you, Zim?” Zim turned his sight away from the human. “Zim has no idea what you’re talking about”. “Oh really?” Dib said, “so you just decided to take off the stupid uniform you been wearing for the past three years?” “Eh… yes?” Said Zim. Dib raised an eyebrow “What’s really going on, Zim?” The alien grunted and sighed. “Argh, FINE! I’ll tell you but not here” he said taking the teen boy wrist and dragging him outside. 

The two of them sat behind the school gym. Now normally Dib would think Zim was going to attack him, but the alien just sat there hugging his knees. There was a silence between them. Dib was starting to think about leaving when Zim talked. “So you really want to know what I been up to?” Dib nodded slightly. “I’ve been crying…” Dib was confused, he’d known Zim for three years now and he had never seen him cry. “You...been crying?” Zim turn to look at the human. “What? Is it that hard to believe?” “Well, you always bragged about how Irkens didn’t have feelings, so a little” Dib said awkwardly. Zim stood up. Dib look at him a little worried. “Well turns out, Zim’s not a normal Irken” The alien turned around. “Turns out, Zim’s defective! Turns out, the tallest knew all along! Turns out, they never liked Zim!” Tears were forming in his eyes. “Turns out Zim was never a real invader! Turns out Zim’s mission wasn’t real! Turns they don’t want me back!” He was crying. “Turns out, nobody wants Zim!” Dib stood up and wrapped the alien in his arms. “Don’t say that” Dib whispered “I want you”. Zim clingged to Dib, and continue sobbing. The two boy fell to the ground, still hugging.

After a while Zim calmed down. There was a silence. “Y-you want Zim?” Dib broke the hug. “I want us to be friends, Zim. What do you say?” Zim started at his former enemy. He grinned, somewhat returning to his usual self. “I suppose the Dib-human would make a worthy companion”. The bell rang, and the two friends returned to class.

  
  
  



	2. Zim wears a skirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a couple of days since Dib and Zim officially became friends. Everything has been going well so far. Now and then Zim would get a little depressed, but Dib was always there to talk it out. But there was still something that bothers Dib. And today he was going to confront Zim about it. 
> 
> “h-hey, Zim?” the alien looked at the human. “What is it, Dib-friend?” This was it, he was going to ask him. Dib took a deep breath “Can you give my hoodie back?”

It had been a couple of days since Dib and Zim officially became friends. Everything has been going well so far. Now and then Zim would get a little depressed, but Dib was always there to talk it out. But there was still something that bothers Dib. And today he was going to confront Zim about it. 

The two sat together at lunch. Zim struggled to get rid of the beans in his tray. Dib looked at his alien friend, silently gathering the courage to drop the question. He gulped “h-hey, Zim?” the alien looked at the human. “What is it, Dib-friend?” This was it, he was going to ask him. Dib took a deep breath “Can you give my hoodie back?” Zim looked back himself, he was still wearing the blue hoodie he had stolen from Dib awhile ago. “Zim doesn’t have anything else to wear” he mumbled. “What about your uniform?” Zim looked away, looking a little uncomfortable “I-I don't want to wear that anymore…” Suddenly Dib felt very bad. Of course, Zim wouldn’t want to wear the uniform from the society that abandoned him. But he still wanted his hoodie back. Then he got an idea. “What if we go to the mall after school, so you can get new clothes?” Zim looked up at Dib. “I don’t know, last time Zim went there they said I needed to give them money” The boy chuckled a little. “Zim, you do know you have to pay for things, right?” Zim opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. “I can pay if you want” Dib suggested. “Are you sure?”. “Of course! my allowance is ridiculously high anyway” the boy insisted. “Okey…”.

Later that day, Zim waited outside of the mall. He looked up to the sky. The day was bright, It made him feel good. Irk was always cold, Zim never liked that. Earth was very different from Irk. It was warm. “Zim!” He snapped back to reality, to the Dib approaching him with a box. “What’s in the box?” he asked. Dib opened the box to show a pair of white sneakers. “They were Gaz’s, they don’t fit her anymore, she said you could have them” Zim looked at the shoes is awe. “I see..” the alien said taking the box from Dib’s hands. He started walking towards the entrance. “Well, let us complete our clothing mission”. Dib let out a sigh. “Man, I should really teach you some manners,” he said catching up with Zim. “Eh? Manners?” “You know, saying please when asking for something, saying thank you when someone gives you something, that kinda stuff” The alien raises a nonexistent eyebrow. “Why would one do that?” “To seem less rude I guess, people tend to treat you better if do it”. Zim remained quite. 

The two of them reached the department store and headed towards the clothing section. It was filled with racks of clothes and many mannequins showing various outfit ideas. “Ok! Why don’t we each go and have a look? Grab whatever catches your eyes so you can try it later” said Dib. And with that, Zim was on his own. He walked through the aisles, looking at all the different garments there were. Clothing on Earth works really differently, in the sense that it didn’t have to work. On Irk, everyone was assigned a uniform depending on their profession. But that wasn’t true for humans, or at least their normal wear. Humans choose what they want to wear. It depends on what they like and how they want to look. Zim was started to get a little overwhelmed with all his options when a certain mannequin caught his eye. He stared at it for a while, until a female employee showed up. “Hello there! Is there anything I can help with?” The alien looked at the employee and slowly pointed at the mannequin. “I want that…” then he remembered what Dib said earlier, “please” The girl smiled “No problem!” She walked away for a moment and returned with another set of the clothes on the mannequin. She handed Zim the clothes “Here you go!” “T-thank you” Zim looked down at the garments in his hands. A sudden rush of confidence hit him. And he started swooping through aisles and racks, grabbing multiple pieces of clothing. 

After his rampage, Zim met Dib outside of the fitting rooms. The boy was holding a small pile of clothes. “Wow, you got excited! Didn’t you?” He said referring to the large amount of clothes Zim carried. “Perhaps, Zim likes your human attires” Dib chuckled, “ok, how are you gonna do this?” Zim looked at him confused “your PAK, Zim, you can’t try the clothes with it”. The alien looked at his life support unit. “Well, Zim could take it off in intervals of ten minutes”. And with that, they got started. Zim took off his PAK and gave it to Dib, he then entered the fitting room and started trying the clothes he picked. He first tried on the outfit from the mannequin. He stood outside of the fitting room, showing his outfit to Dib. The boy was definitely surprised. Zim was wearing a black suspender skirt, paired with a pink low neck sweater. It didn’t look bad on him by any means. But it was the first time Dib really analyzed Zim’s body. It was small, like really small. Not only was he short, but he was very thin too. He also had a short torso, that narrowed down into a slim waist. But the thing that surprised Dib the most were Zim’s hips. They were pretty big, especially next to his tiny waist. The more Dib thought about it, the more he realized how feminine Zim’s body looked. Which is probably why he was rocking that skirt so hard. 

After that, the two got into a good rhythm. Zim would try a few outfits, Dib would plug him in to restart his life-clock, and Zim would go back to the fitting room. Once they were finally done with all of Zim’s options, the alien took a look at the clothes Dib had picked out. “There’s nothing really special there, just a few hoodies and shirts. I didn’t expect you would be such a fashionista” Dib said. But Zim kept looking through the garments. “I like this one” the alien was holding a purple hoodie with stars running down the sleeves. “Really?!” Dib smiled. “It’s my favorite color” Zim responded, “I want to try it on”. He swiftly took off his PAK, grabbed a pair of white high waisted jeans and entered the fitting room. He returned with the clothes on “what do you think?” “You look great”. Zim smiled at the compliment, he had recently found that he really liked being complimented. “Ok, in the interest of getting something to eat later, I say you choose three outfits to buy” Zim looked at his pile of clothes. He ended up picking the suspender skirt and sweater, a striped t-shirt with a denim short overall, and the purple hoodie with the white jeans. “Are you sure you want that? It’s ok if you pick something from your pile” Zim looked with a serious look “Zim is very sure he wants the hoodie, Dib-friend chose it for me”. Dib smiled as he paid. After buying everything, Zim rushed to the fitting rooms to change into the suspender skirt and sweater. While Zim was changing, Dib bought one final thing. “Hey close your eyes,” he said as Zim left the fitting room. The alien obeyed, and Dib went behind him and wrapped something around his neck. Zim look at the mirror, he was wearing a black choker necklace. “Now we match!” Dib said pointing to a similar necklace on his neck. Zim couldn’t help but to smile, maybe earth clothing wasn’t as bad after all...


	3. Irken Soldiers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zim is sad

Lately, Zim emotions were all over the place. He could be having a nice day, but all of a sudden, he’d start feeling sad. It was frustrating. He wanted to feel better. It had been more than a month since he was cut off the empire. Today was one of those days. He had been ok in the morning. He was getting ready to go to school, when he suddenly became really tired.

It had been 3 hours. He was more than just late for school. There was no point in going anyways. He layed in the couch holding Gir in his arms. The little robot had done his best to cheer him up, but it hadn’t worked. Zim appreciated the effort, but he just wasn’t feeling it. The tv was on. It was that monkey show Gir loved so much. He tried to pay attention, but he’s eyelids started feeling heavy. ‘I’ll just rest my eyes for a bit’ he thought. 

“Master?” A robotic voice asked. Zim grunted and slowly opened his eyelids. His little assistant was staring at him with his bright cyan blue eyes. “What is it, Gir?” He said in a low voice. “You weren’t answering,” The little robot looked worried. “I asked you if you wanted waffles.” That’s when Zim noticed the plate of waffles on the floor. They were oozing with maple syrup, and it was dripping into the floor. “Not now Gir, maybe later”. Zim hadn’t eaten since yesterday, and it look like Gir had made the waffles edible this time, but he just didn’t feel like eating. ‘Irken soldiers don’t need to eat’ he thought. He knew that he had been exiled from the empire. He knew he was no soldier. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t act like it, right?

He walked to the elevator, slowly like he was dragging himself. He descended to his underground quarters. He had repurpose one of his old lab rooms as a bedroom. The room was the same pink as the rest of the other rooms under the house. It had a circular bed in the middle of it. ‘Irken soldiers don’t need a bed’. Zim approach the closest. It was mostly empty, just a few different garments. He searched for something in the very back, tossing everything else out his way. He finally found it. Zim stood out of the closet holding his invader uniform in his hands. He left it in the bed, and started to take his hoodie off. It was a purple hoodie with stars running down his arms, it was the hoodie Dib had bought for him. He stopped and looked at the bed. Under his uniform was all the clothes Dib had bought him. He touched his neck, he was wearing his choker. One that looked really similar to the one Dib would surely be wearing at school in that moment. They were matching, no doubt about it. 

Zim returned to the living room with uniform in hand, still wearing his hoodie. ‘Irken soldiers don’t need anyone’ he tossed the uniform onto the floor. ‘I’m not a soldier...’ he sat in the couch. Gir walked to him holding a piece of paper in his hands. The little robot handed it to the irken. It was a drawing. It showed Zim, Gir and Dib holding hands and smiling. A few tears fell onto the paper. He was crying. Zim took Gir into his arms. Gir quickly wrapped his arms around him. Zim sobbed, it felt like he had been holding it back for hours. So what if he wasn’t a soldier, what if he needed someone to comfort him when he felt down. He had Gir, he had Minimoose, he had the computer, he had the Dib-Friend. Yeah he wasn’t a soldier anymore, but that’s ok. He’s better off now.


End file.
